Category: Mainstream

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Nibbles: Benchmarking, Unintended consequences, Kenyan seeds, WFP, China genebank, Evolutionary plant breeding, Citrus, Maize, Lotus silk, Azolla, Spanish genebank

  1. How committed are 350 food companies to food system transformation? Well, take a wild guess…
  2. Mind you, transformation is tricky.
  3. A climate-smart seed system for Kenya? Would be transformative for sure.
  4. Great that WFP got the Nobel Peace Prize, but they’re only part of the food system picture.
  5. Another part is genebanks, as China recognizes.
  6. One way to use all that material in genebanks is through evolutionary plant breeding.
  7. Citrus: How it started. How it’s going. Meme alert.
  8. Maize was taken back to Mexico from South America in ancient times. And those early farmers really knew how to process it for maximum benefit, something we’re forgetting.
  9. A deep dive into lotus silk.
  10. An even deeper dive into Azolla-covered paddies.
  11. Esteban Hernández of the Andalusian genebank gets his 15 minutes.
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Stripping back the history of seed conservation

The original Frontiers of Science strips ran from 1961 and was significant as a means of communicating and popularising science. It was Australian and developed from the University of Sydney, and was produced and distributed by Press Feature Service. The series was co-written and produced by Professor Stuart Butler from the School of Physics and journalist and film-maker Bob Raymond. The early art work in the series was by Andrea Bresciani, continued later by David Emersen.

Frontiers of Science came to an end in 1982 with Stuart Butler’s death, but not before putting out at least 25 issues on agricultural topics, including two on crop diversity and its conservation. These date back to 1971, but are still well worth having a look at.

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Alternative seed sources

Sometimes, seeds of old and interesting crop varieties are not solely (or even at all) available from genebanks. In the US, for example, there are a number of other options, as summarized below by our friend Marty Reisinger, especially aimed at amateur gardeners:

  • Plant Information Online: Operated by the University of Minnesota. Enables searches for specific cultivars.
  • Dave’s Garden: Search over 160,000 plants. Members can chat with other gardeners in their forums.
  • Master Gardeners. Each state has a Master Gardener organization. Follow the link for one near you.

I’m sure there are similar resources for other countries, and wouldn’t it be nice to bring them all together?

LATER: Here’s a resource for Canada. Via.

LATER STILL: See also this roundup in Modern Farmer.